His Shortcake

Chapter 2

**Dustyn Franco**

Mark was relentless.

As expected, he didn't know when to stop questioning people like he was some kind of detective solving a murder crime. Mara answered every question with ease, only to be bombarded with a hundred more. Vero and I finally drew the line after he asked about Mara's sex life. My poor shortcake blushed profusely as she tried to answer Mark despite his idiotic and privacy-invading question.

"Don't answer that, shortcake," I interjected, my voice sharp. I slapped Mark on the back; the loud smack resonated in the room, and I could tell it stung.

Coughing loudly, he smiled sheepishly at Mara while scratching the back of his head. "Sorry. I'm a bit too much sometimes."

Vero just shook her head at her husband's antics but remained quiet nonetheless. She continued her not-so-subtle observation of Mara, who still smiled at Mark like he hadn't just asked that question.

"Say, would you like to learn how to bake?" Mark asked with a friendly smile.

Immediately, her gray eyes filled with excitement as she looked at me and Mark. "Can I?!" she asked, sounding like a kid on Christmas Day.

Laughter rumbled out of me, and I nodded at her, looking at her softly. "Of course you can. Go ahead."

She jumped up from her seat and planted a soft kiss on my cheek, whispering a thank you as she did. Startled, I could only stare at her as she followed Mark to his kitchen with excited steps. Lifting my hand to the place she kissed, my fingers shakily touched the spot, and a smile formed on my lips. Well, that was unexpected. Just as I had originally thought, it rendered me speechless.

Maybe breaking the news to her wouldn't be so bad, I thought.

"She seems very keen on learning from Mark," Vero said, watching her husband and Mara with a smile on her face. Sadly, it's rare for anyone to get along with Mark. As I said, he is an annoying idiot who has no filter on his mouth.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Mara loves to learn, especially about baking," I told her as we too walked to the kitchen in their house.

As I expected, their kitchen was huge, fit for a restaurant. It had all the utensils you could imagine and was filled with every ingredient you could want. It was safe to say that their kitchen would be heaven for those who love to cook. As expected, Vero allowed her husband to go overboard with their house.

"I know it's big, but this is something he loves," she explained, her eyes softening considerably as she watched Mark.

I smiled at her in acknowledgment. Vero is a hard woman who only has a soft spot for Mark. And I know she would do anything to make sure he stays happy. "I guess it can't be helped."

She nudged my shoulder with a teasing smile. "Please, I know about that room you have in your penthouse. Filled with all the little things you've gotten for her since you went to college."

Clearing my throat, I repeated my words from earlier. "It can't be helped."

Vero laughed at my discomfort. She found it funny that I fell for the girl six years younger than me without Mara having to do anything. I just... I fell, and I fell hard.

"V, help Mara with the whipped cream," Mark called as he started mixing things to make the dough. "We're making strawberry shortcake." He snorted, looking directly at me.

I knew he wasn't done teasing.

It took us about three hours to finally finish everything under Mark's annoying supervision.